Casey Lumumba and Chris Smith completed their AWS re:Start training and education programme earlier this year. Launched in January 2017 with The Prince’s Trust, Ministry of Defence, and QA Consulting, AWS re:Start is a training and education programme that aims to bring more qualified people with cloud and software development skills into the UK’s workforce.

Casey, Chris and other young adults attended a four-week, full-time, intensive training course where they learned and refined their programming, networking, and cloud computing skills. They then set-off on work placements at some of the UK’s most well-known organisations, including the BBC, Direct Line Group, Royal Opera House, Splunk, Zopa, and AWS.

During their work placements, they were given the opportunity to get hands on experience with how businesses in different sectors are using the cloud to transform and improve their customer experience. They were also introduced to different teams and departments and got the chance to work across a variety of job functions from dealing with laptop issues on the IT support desk to working with the development teams producing new features and implementing updates.

“I feel more ambitious, more confident, and I’ve actually got a real purpose now,” said Casey following completion of his work placement at Direct Line Group. “I do owe a lot to it. This is my future now,” added Chris Smith, a young military veteran who was in the Royal Engineers for five years before getting injured during an exercise.

Click the video to hear their inspirational stories, and for more information on the AWS re:Start programme, visit: https://aws-restart.com/

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